The present invention relates to systems and methods for directly manipulating digital images on image display monitors. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods that allow image manipulation without using conventional toolbars or menubars for controlling the various manipulation functions, but in which the displayed digital image itself is mapped into virtual spaces corresponding to image manipulation functions that can be executed via a pointing device.
Conventional image manipulation systems and graphical user interfaces (xe2x80x9cGUI""sxe2x80x9d) use a cooperation between screen representations, such as portrayed buttons, menu items or icons, and a cursor controlled by, for example, a mouse. These conventional systems and methods require toolbars, menubars and other displays that intrude on the displayed image and use cumbersome and time-consuming steps for executing desired image manipulation functions. The interposition of such tools and techniques stands in the way of a more natural and intuitive approach to image manipulation.
In addition, the continuous presence of conventional toolbars or other images dedicated to control of the image can cause undesirable xe2x80x9cburn-inxe2x80x9d of high luminescence display screens. Conventional toolbars and menubars can also increase the level of background light emitted by the display and related GUI, thereby degrading the quality of the displayed images.
Consequently, a need exists for direct image manipulation systems and GUI""s that do not utilize conventional intrusive toolbars, menubars and other conventional display capabilities. The need is especially great in the medical field, where for example, radiologists traditionally use light boxes to view x-ray prints, MRI images and other medical images. By avoiding the use of conventional display capabilities and providing a more natural and intuitive approach to image manipulation, a radiologist could manipulate digital images on an image display just as easily as he or she could handle xe2x80x9chardxe2x80x9d prints in front of a light box, and in a manner quite similar.
The need for direct image manipulation capabilities is also great in the field of teleradiology, where direct image manipulation systems are required for use over local area and wide area computer networks. Such a system would allow physicians or radiologists, for example, to access and review medical images from a remote site with the same convenience and reliability as they would in the office or hospital radiology department. A physician or radiologist could thereby provide around-the-clock coverage from a remote site without delays or midnight drives to the hospital. Immediate remote access would benefit emergency patients by enabling a fast, expert access to images essential to accurate diagnosis and treatment. This, coupled with improved, more natural image manipulation arrangements would significantly enhance the physician""s or radiologist""s ability to serve the needs of the patient.
In the field of teleradiology, there is also a need for manipulation systems that are compatible with the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (xe2x80x9cDICOMxe2x80x9d) standard. The DICOM standard defines formatting, storage and transmission protocols for digital images used by the medical community. These protocols allow medical images and associated clinical information to be captured, transferred, viewed and manipulated with DICOM-compatible hardware and software.
Therefore, a principle object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for direct manipulation of digital images that do not rely on conventional portrayed items such as toolbars or menubars for controlling various image manipulation functions.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for direct manipulation of digital images that utilize, when required, non-intrusive means for displaying and activating image manipulation functions and tools.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system for direct manipulation of digital images that is adaptable for use in local area and wide networks.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system for direct manipulation of digital images that is particularly adaptable for teleradiology applications.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system for direct manipulation of digital images that is DICOM-compatible.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a computer program implementing systems of image manipulation pursuant to the foregoing objects of the invention.
The present invention relates to systems and methods for direct manipulation of digital images via a pointing device such as a mouse but without reliance on conventional displayed image manipulation tools or icons. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for direct image manipulation includes: at least one display monitor for displaying at least one of a plurality of digital images, the display monitor including at least one of a plurality of image display windows, wherein each of the image display windows is capable of displaying at least one of the digital images. When a selected image display window is activated, the image manipulation system (1) designates virtual spaces as function executing by means of a cursor and instructions associated with the virtual spaces, (2) generates the instructions associated with the virtual spaces, (3) assigns each of the virtual spaces to image manipulation functions corresponding to a position of the cursor when located within each of the virtual spaces, and (4) executes the instructions associated with each of the virtual spaces.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a system for direct image manipulation includes: means for directly manipulating digital images with a pointing device in a non-intrusive manner; a central repository for providing image data corresponding to the digital images; a central station for processing the image data and for viewing and manipulating the corresponding digital images; a first network connected to the central repository, the first network including at least one local site and at least one local node at the site for processing and for viewing and manipulating the digital images; and a second network connected to the central repository, the second network including at least one remote site and at least one remote node at the remote site for processing the image data and for viewing and manipulating the digital images.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an image manipulation system for in-hospital teleradiology includes: means for directly manipulating digital images with a pointing device in a non-intrusive manner; a central repository for providing image data corresponding to the digital images; a central station for processing the image data and for viewing and manipulating the corresponding digital images; and a local network connected to the central repository, the local network including at least one local site and at least one local node at the local site for processing the image data and for viewing and manipulating the digital images.
In accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an image manipulation system for multi-site teleradiology includes: means for directly manipulating digital images with a pointing device in a non-intrusive manner; a central repository for providing image data corresponding to the digital images; a central station for processing the image data and for viewing and manipulating the digital images; and a network connected to the central repository, the network including at least one remote site and at least one remote node at the remote site for processing and for viewing and manipulating the digital images.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for direct manipulation of digital images includes the steps of: displaying at least one of a plurality of digital images on at least one display monitor, the display monitor including at least one of a plurality of image display windows, wherein each of the image display windows is capable of displaying at least one of the digital images; designating virtual spaces of each of the image display windows as function executing, the designating means including a cursor and instructions associated with the virtual spaces; generating the instructions associated with the virtual spaces; assigning each of the virtual spaces with a unique function corresponding to the position of the cursor when located within each of the virtual spaces; and executing the instructions associated with the virtual spaces.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for direct manipulation of digital images includes the steps of: selecting at least one of a plurality of digital images to be displayed; loading image data associated with the digital images into computer memory; initializing at least one of a plurality of image display windows for displaying the digital images; executing one of the image display windows; partitioning the activated image display window into a plurality of regions; assigning each of the regions to a set of instructions required for performing one of a plurality of image manipulation functions associated with each of the regions within the activated image window; executing a selected one of the image manipulation functions within the activated image display window, the executing step including the steps of moving a cursor into the region associated with the desired image manipulation function, and manually engaging instructions associated with the selected image manipulation function.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is provided for implementing a system for directly manipulating digital images with a pointing device. The computer program includes a computer usable medium and a computer readable program code embodied therein for: displaying at least one of a plurality of digital images on at least one display monitor, the display monitor comprising at least one of a plurality of image display windows, wherein each of the image display windows is capable of displaying at least one of the digital images; designating virtual spaces of each of the image display windows as function activating by way of a cursor and instructions associated with the virtual spaces; generating the instructions associated with the virtual spaces; assigning each of the virtual spaces with a unique function corresponding to a position of the cursor when located within each of the virtual spaces; and executing the instructions associated with each of the virtual spaces.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a computer program for use with an image manipulation system includes a computer usable medium and a computer readable program code embodied in the computer usable medium. The computer readable program code further includes: an image data processing object class for processing image data; an image data interface object class for providing an interface between the image data and the computer readable program code, wherein the image data interface object class receives the image data and creates one or more image interface objects containing image bitmap data. The computer readable program code also includes: an image view object class for processing the image bitmap data and for displaying one or more images in one or more display areas; an image floating window object class for defining the display areas on one or more display monitors, the image floating window object class further including a user interface for executing image manipulation functions; an image child window object class for mapping the image interface objects to one or more image display windows within the display areas; an image display region object class for providing parameters associated with the image display areas and the image display windows, wherein the parameters are passed to the image view object class; a window/level object class for providing window and level data to the image view object class; and a coordinate mapping object class for generating mapping data between image coordinate spaces and image display window coordinate spaces, wherein mapping data is provided to the image floating window object class.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, a method for manipulating digital images is provided wherein the method includes: creating one or more cursor handles corresponding to cursors to be used in image display windows; creating one or more function handles corresponding to virtual spaces of the image display windows; creating a table in computer memory for storing the cursor handles and function handles; storing the cursor and function handles in the table; storing dimension and position data associated with the virtual spaces in the table; detecting motion of a pointing device; checking the position of the pointing device; converting the position of the pointing device into an index of the table; switching the cursor to the cursor handle found in the table; and notifying a computer operating system that a new cursor handle has been created.